I know some of you have heard the rumors about this might be the final year of CAAS as we know it. What I have heard is: the Marriott Corp. has bought the Sheraton Hotel and do not wish to negotiate with CAAS to continue there in the future. Dr Pritcher and others are looking for another venue but the result is unknown. I am not 100% sure that this rumor is true but the signs so far say they are true. I have had a wonderful run with CAAS and I sure hope that something can be done to keep it alive.

Roger, at the risk of offending a few, I'll say that CAAS "as we know it" ended a long time ago. Chet left us 16 years ago and as time goes by, things there are getting more and more watered down. I still plan on attending this year like I always do and will be sad if it's the last. There are people (like you) who I always look forward to seeing and it's nice to pick up new ideas, but I can "feel" the lack of devotion to Chet with many of the people I meet and listen to. He is the reason CAAS even exists. I appreciate you sharing this news with us, Roger.

I would hate to see CAAS die. A few years after Chet died I almost stopped going myself as it seemed like Chet's influence had disappeared. We have been attending pretty steady since 1992 and always stayed at the Marriott when it was there and then the Sheraton. I like the electric guitar Chet and jazz just turns me off. It seemed for a while there you could not escape the jazz even in the Tuck Rasor room.

Then 4 years ago it seemed to me that CAAS returned to Chet and now so many of the young guns are playing for traditional Chet style. A song should contain quality notes and a melody as opposed to being evaluated based upon how many notes you can cram into a measure.

We did stop attending the Saturday night show as it was mostly a rehash of the performers and songs that we had already heard during the week. I think Saturday night should be a Chet album as the year they did Hollywood.